You are providing nursing care for a 24-year-old female patient admitted to the unit with a diagnosis of cystitis. Which intervention should you delegate to the UAP?

• A. Teaching the patient how to secure a clean-catch urine sample
• B. Assessing the patient's urine for color, odor, and sediment
• C. Reviewing the nursing care plan and add nursing interventions
• D. Providing the patient with a clean-catch urine sample container

Answer: (D)

Delegation to a UAP works best for routine, non-judgmental tasks that don’t require nursing assessment, interpretation, or teaching. In this scenario, providing the patient with a clean-catch urine sample container is simply a supply task: it ensures the patient has the right equipment to collect a specimen later. It does not require the nurse to teach how to collect the sample, interpret results, or make clinical decisions.

The other options involve activities that require nursing responsibilities: teaching the patient how to perform a clean-catch involves patient education and assessment of learning needs; assessing urine characteristics requires clinical observation and nursing judgment; reviewing the care plan and adding interventions is part of care coordination and planning, which is beyond UAP scope.

So handing over the container is the appropriate delegation because it stays within the UAP’s role as a support person for basic tasks, while the RN handles teaching, assessment, and planning.